Chapter Two: Living the Dream

"I'm sorry?" Kurt couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Yeah, I don't know who this Blaine guy is, but you can hang with me until you find him?" This was confusing for Kurt because he believed Blaine was the boy he was talking to, but Blaine believed he was Harry Potter. How bizarre!

He decided to go along with it, so as not to upset this magical world he'd been thrown into. Kurt had the feeling that this whole thing could slip out from beneath his feet at any moment in a wisp of smoke. "Yeah, sure. That sounds great, actually. I'm Kurt, by the way."

Blaine stuck out his hand and shook Kurt's with a confident force. "Great to meet you, Kurt! My friend, Ron, is supposed to be here soon. I don't know..."

"Did somebody say Ron?" a happy voice inquired from behind them.

Kurt smiled warily at the boy who called himself Ron; it was clearly Finn wearing a red wig and strange blue headband.

"Ron, man," Blaine beamed and gave him a welcoming bear hug, as if they hadn't seen each other in months. "What's up? I want you to meet my new friend, Kurt!"

Red-headed Finn took one glance at Kurt and laughed, "Kurt's my little brother!" Then he ducked down so his face was comfortably level with Kurt's. "D'you want a Red Vine?"

Kurt looked down at Finn's hand to see, tightly grasped, a blue and red package of liquorice. "N-no thanks."

"You don't mean that! I know you're probably starving right now!"

He didn't – and he was. But how did Finn know? Then it clicked. I'm dreaming! Kurt thought, a smile gracing his thin lips. Everything until now has either made no sense, or been too good to be true! Kurt grasped a wand of liquorice in his fist and took a bite. He'd never actually experienced the flavour of Red Vines before, so the dream filled it in as strawberry. "Thanks... Ron."

"What's family for?" Finn winked and put a lanky arm over each of his friends.

As if things weren't peculiar enough, Kurt caught sight of a girl walking toward them, her nose high in the air. Right away Kurt recognized her as Hermione Granger, only the bushy brown hair and librarian-esque clothing belonged to none other than Rachel Berry. Kurt failed to hold back a chuckle; aside from her hair being puffier than normal, and the fact that she was carrying a wand, Rachel didn't look or act much differently.

"Hello, boys," she greeted in a stale tone. "Are you ready to get back to the joys of learning?"

"Not really, it's just school," Blaine sighed.

"God Herman – why do you have to be such a buzz-kill?" Finn rolled his eyes as if he felt he was forced into hugging Rachel 'hello', though no one was saying he had to. "This is my little brother, Kurt."

"Hey, Kurt!" Rachel smiled a toothy grin, trying to make a good first impression on someone who already knew her quiet well. "I'm Hermione Granger!"

Kurt waved shyly and took a step closer to Blaine. "Hi."

"Well, we should probably get shopping. I don't have all day, you know!" Kurt made a mental note that Rachel was as bossy in his dreams as she was in real life, and he should never rule anything out in his subconscious. "I think we should go get our books first!" She took Finn by the arm and led him toward Flourish and Blotts, talking non-stop about how she'd already read half of this year's booklist over the summer.

Kurt knew this had to be a dream, because he rarely got alone-time with Blaine when other people were around. Then he remembered this wasn't Blaine, it was Harry Potter.

"So you're Ron's younger brother?" Blaine asked as they followed Finn and Rachel in no particular hurry.

The question had started Kurt's mind racing. Ron Weasley didn't have a younger brother – did that mean he was Ginny in this twisted, role-playing dream of his? And if so, didn't that mean he would eventually get together with Harry? Kurt's confidence shot right back up. "Yeah, I guess so. How is it being his friend? At home he's loud and annoying... but I guess we all are."

"He's been really cool to me since the day we met... You know, I gave him that blue headband."

"It's very... athletic chic," Kurt said, trying to be supportive of Blaine's yucky fashion sense as Harry Potter.

"Yep. Wears it ever since."

"He must like it, then." That isn't surprising – Finn never was one for awareness of how he looks. Kurt's mind started to wander. Having known how the Harry Potter series ended, he couldn't help but ask, "Harry, what's the deal with Ron and Hermione?"

Blaine shrugged. "I'm the Chosen One, Kurt. I don't have time to pay attention to my friends' possible love life."

"Oh."

"But I'm pretty sure they hate each other right now."

"Right," Kurt said, forcing a laugh.

In a sudden flash, the dream skipped over their shopping trip, and before Kurt could say anything in protest, Diagon Alley was swallowed up and the setting re-stabilized around him as Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Rachel was running frantically at the steps to climb onto the train, tugging her trunk behind her. Even Kurt found himself in mid-run alongside Blaine and Finn, who both carried their trunks. "Hurry up, you three, we're going to miss the train!"